AROUND HIGHER EDUCATION: Harvard bars Greeks from campus move-in

and Jenny Heller The Harvard Crimson CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (U-WIRE) -- Harvard's Freshman Dean's Office ordered fraternity students from Harvard Yard last Sunday while they were helping with move-in, highlighting the hostile relationship between non-official organizations and the school. Members of the Sigma Chi fraternity were carrying bags and boxes for freshmen Sept. 6 when Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth Studley Nathans told them to leave. They were escorted out by a Harvard University police officer, students said. The fraternity members were not taking tips, but they were wearing bright yellow fraternity shirts that Harvard officials said put them in conflict with policies on unapproved student activities. The students said they were simply performing a community service. "We conceived this as a community service project," said Sigma Chi President Obiera Menkiti. Doubtful, said Dean of the College Harry Lewis. "I am very skeptical about calling a group of fraternity members, in uniform dress, approaching freshmen as they move into the dorms a community service activity," he wrote in an e-mail message. Nathans said student groups that are not recognized by the college are not permitted to participate in any activities on campus as representatives of their organization. "As the Handbook for Students points out, fraternities and sororities are not recognized by the College," she wrote in an e-mail message. "Individual Harvard students, as individuals, are? always welcome within the University, but? it was clear that [the students] were there as members of their organization rather than as individuals," she said, stressing the matching shirts with fraternity insignia. College officials said they suspected the fraternity members used move-in as an opportunity to solicit members, a charge the students denied. "There was no taking of names," Menkiti said. The controversy began at around 8:30 a.m., when the brothers were approached by Assistant Dean of Freshmen Eleanor Sparagana, who asked them to leave, Menkiti said. Nathans then appeared with a Harvard police officer and repeated the request. Administrators referred to the school's Student Handbook to explain their actions, which cautions students to make "well-informed" choices about joining Greek organizations, and warns that membership brings with it a risk of poor grades.